Brenda opened the meeting by thanking Craig & Paulette for hosting the meeting. Their new layout is looking great!

President - Craig Pecora

Craig thanked everyone for attending and explained the blinding rain storm earlier in the day that left the layout and yard flooded.

Vice President – Jim Mitchell

The club currently has 63 household memberships (112 voting members). He recently sent out a request to all members to verify that club membership listing information is correct.

Treasurer – Charlie Caggiano

Charlie noted there was not a lot of financial activity this month. We collected $550 (membership dues, track sales and Galveston show expense reimbursement). Expenditures were related to the storage unit and insurance which will continue monthly. The club has $6,039 in the bank. Jim noted he recently transferred money (approx. $120) from paypal (related to members who paid dues via paypal) to the bank account.

Secretary – Lisa Rickert Absent

Newsletter Editor – Brenda Cauthen

Brenda continues to be too busy to produce a newsletter. Maybe this fall.

Web site – Jim Mitchell

Jim reported the website had 281 hits in last 30 days. A lot of the activity was related to people using our website to get to the national convention website. Craig noted that we should visit the website if we haven’t lately.

Rosenburg RR Museum update – Greg Cauthen

Greg reported there are a couple of events coming up: June 24th is run day and Discovery Day (free museum day). The museum expects more visitors that day—has varied between 50 people to over 900 people. June 30 is the Garden Party Fundraiser “A Night at the Museum” with food, drinks, auction items, music, etc. This is a major fundraiser for the museum and hope that you can attend. We have some work that needs to be done on the garden rr. The green line has buckled a bit and it looks like we need to cut 1/8th inch track out to straighten out. Will probably schedule a work session for Saturday, June 23rd to get it ready and cleaned up. The employees and volunteers have been helping with the weeds and overall maintenance, so it is in ok shape. The museum has a new summer employee, club member Sebastian Russo, who is really helping with the garden railroad. Tracy is the executive director of the museum now. Greg said he would send out information on all the events and the scheduled work day.

Craig noted Tower 17 has a lot of Aristo rail cars upside down because the trucks has come off. The screws have fallen out. They are the same screws that hold the couplers on. Chuck indicated he has lots of various screws. Greg indicated there is a mix of different types of cars so they may not all be Aristo. Need to try to find the screws. Jim says he has lots of screws as well.

New Business

Move club property to storage

The club needs a workday to move the modules and other club belongings out of the Cauthen’s garage. Greg indicated sometime after June 30 works better since we have so many things going on at the museum prior to then. Jim indicated is best if we go to UHaul on the day we want to do the move. Tracy asked if a horse trailer would work. The club agreed it would work so Tracy will see if she could find a horse trailer for us. Greg suggested we have a work day to clear out the club property that will never be used so we don’t clutter up the storage unit. We will need many people to help with the move. Will plan for a Saturday or Sunday and send out notice a week or more in advance.

Approve budget for power supply

We can’t vote to approve a budget for the purchase of a needed power supply tonight because we do not have a quorum present. The Bridgeworks dual throttle is what we need. Reindeer Pass has one for $639 (but it is not 20 amp) which is the cheapest Craig has found. Greg suggested calling Bridgeworks direct and they may give a better price than the cheapest we can find. We need a 20 amp. Jim says the only place that has one in stock (Art in Pennsylvania) and it is $880. So will keep looking.

Future meetings

July meeting—Greg & Brenda have cleaned up their railroad and is offering to have the July meeting (July 7th) at their house before they demolish the layout before their move. The August meeting could be at Justin’s. The September is usually at Zube Park with HALs—Bill Courtright usually coordinates this meeting with us.

Prior Founding Member Sylvia St. Andry-needs help selling her trains, track, etc.

Brenda reported that Sylvia St. Andry has been in contact with the club via its facebook page asking for assistance in pricing some of her locos and rolling stock. She provided her contact info: Phone 281 216 1050. Email [email protected] if anyone is interested in helping her. She has some items listed on ebay currently and is working on a list of items she wants to sell.

Tomball Depot

Mark Burns has been talking with the Tomball Museum/Depot about putting on a one man display for them for their Christmas Festival (he thinks the 8th of December) and they seem to be interested. The last time he did it for them it was a 12’x30’ double track layout in the front area. Now they are interested in something in the pond area which would be 100’ x 30’ or 40’. Mark noted it would be better if more than one person assists with this sesst up. Tracy indicated the ribbon cutting is in July 20th or so. Chuck indicated he would like to try out his Thomas (8’x22’) layout that he has working now.